If the first four days were any clue ...

... I'm in for an eclectic quilting week

For the record, I'm declaring my One Monthly Goal (OMG) for February:  It's my Spare Parts quilt made from orphan blocks.

Spare Parts

I've let these blocks hibernate on my wall for a couple of days, slept a couple of nights, and think I have finally come up with a starting point.  I am excited about the challenge and hope to have something to show by next Sunday.

While I was letting Spare Parts (I keep wanting to type Spart Pares for some reason) marinate in my mind, I decided to try making one of Bonnie Hunter's chunky churn dash blocks in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for February.

Aquamarine Chunky Churn Dash

As Nann at With Strings Attached warned me, I couldn't stop at just one, however.

These start with 1-1/2" strips, of which I have a plethora, and I was able to scare up a few purple 2-1/2" strips for the corners by raiding my En Provence box (which, BTW, has stalled completely). I love the way the different value combinations make each block look different.  They finish at 6" and Bonnie's pattern pairs them with quarter-square hour-glass blocks which makes the CCDs look like they are set on point.  I'm really fascinated by the possibilities for these blocks!

And here's a sneak peak at a new project -- yes, another rabbit hole -- that coincidentally has some aquamarine in it.

I'm dithering about the center of the friendship star but I should be able to find something that works among the 34!!! different fabrics as suggested in the pattern.  It's a sampler of sorts, but done in sections.  My current plan is to work on this at the Nuts and Bolts retreat later this month.

Well, I guess I'd better get crackin' on all of these different projects. I'm linking up with Patty D at Elm Street Quilts for OMG and Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework for Oh, Scrap.

Sea Green, Aqua, Teal, Whatever ....

RSC17 Strikes Again

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge for 2017, hosted by Angela at So Scrappy, has rolled into its second month and the color is something between blue and green.

I have a lot of fabric on my shelf that falls into that category -- probably because it's neither blue nor green so what does one do with it?  Lately I've been using it as an accent with grey and red. So I thought I'd have lots of scraps.  NOT!

I've managed to eek out one Scrap Jar Star.  One.

I have a few more of those same pieces cut for maybe one more, but I don't want them to look like twins.  Maybe during the month I can generate a few more scraps for some variety.

Did you see that Bonnie Hunter has updated her instructions for Chunky Churn Dash?  What a great block for using up scraps! I'm betting some will appear on this site soon.

Hop over to soscrappy to see what other quilters are doing with neither blue nor green.

WIP Wednesday

Blame it on Mmes X, Y, and Z

Those three ladies know who they are!  They're the ones who have been moved to put orphan blocks into a disparate collection and call it a quilt.  And the quilts are as pretty as anything done from a pattern.

Being equally inspired, I have followed them down the rabbit hole, but I wasn't convinced that I had enough to put together into anything that resembles a cohesive mass.

First, I went to my "Parts Department" drawer.

Using Cynthia Brunz's method of sorting by warm and cool, and expanding into themes, etc., I came up with a surprising array of options to start with.  I decided to begin with the brights.

First Pass

The first thing I did was eliminate the diamonds on the far left, first because the shape was not compatible but also because the colors weren't really that bright.  Then there was this other bin of leftovers from 2016 projects.

From it I pulled a few more bright bits.  And then I remembered during my Great Reorganization Project last year I had bagged up yet more bits and bobs, complete with notes about possible ideas to use them.

I added a couple of card trick blocks, and a few monochromatic 9-patches, as well as a couple of pinwheels. 

Now I'm trying to find a suitable background in my stash that can bring all this together.  I think the next step is to come up with a basic layout of the different-sized blocks and THEN decide what it needs to pull it all together.

Honestly, I could spend the rest of 2017 doing nothing more than using up this mess treasure-trove of goodness!

Sew, Cynthia, Diann, and Nann, I hope you are happy!

Danger, Danger!

Reading blogs can lead you down the rabbit hole

I was all set to spend today finishing up my One Monthly Goal, which for January consisted of tying up loose ends from December; specifically:

• Final borders on Checkers, Anyone?  DONE!

Checkers, Anyone?

• Finish Trellis Garden Top:  I was able to find enough focus fabric scraps to cut half blocks to fill out the inner border and then used the "brack" for the final border.  DONE!

Trellis Garden

• Put final border on Holiday Frost -- Umm, that's where I bogged down, though I still have two days to get it done before the end of the month.

The first obstacle, if you want to call it that, was something I started last year.  Rather than put scraps leftover from a project back on the shelf or in the scrap pile, I am attempting to the upcycle them into anther project.  Today's result:

Trellis Garden Redux

It's small, 32" x 36", but it could be nice for someone in a wheelchair or, with borders, a nice comfort quilt.

But what really distracted me this weekend was reading about what others are doing with leftover bits and orphan blocks.  Specifically, Cynthia Brunz (Quilting is More Fun Than Housework) has given an indepth look at her process, how she sorts by warm and cool colors, how she balances the different sizes of blocks, and how she uses odd bits and strips to fill in gaps.

Well, I just HAD to pull out my "Parts Department" (first coined by Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran)  to see if there was enough of anything to pull together.  On top of the stack were a group of Strips and Curves blocks -- which just happen to be PURPLE!

Strips and Curves orphans

I also found twenty 4-patch posey blocks made from a set of panels, a large accumulation of miscellaneous blocks with black backgrounds, and a lot of modern 4-patches and HSTs.  Some pieces, like the paper pieced palm fronds, go back to my earliest piecing attempts (and the seam allowances are proof).  Surely I can find some way to use these miscellaneous pieces.  I'll use February's Rainbow Scrap Challenge color to help me choose a starting point.

Since I made major progress on my OMG, I am linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts. 

Passionate for Purple

RSC17 Update

Apparently I AM passionate for purple because I've hardly made a dent in my purple scraps!

What a mess!

But I've made a very good start with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge January color of purple.  Let's see how I did.

Scrap Jar Star

Inspired by other RSC participants, I decided to make scrap jar stars each month.  I managed to get three made in January.

At that rate, three 12" blocks x 10 months will make a very nice throw. I also chose another quilt in 101 Fabulous Rotary-Cut Quilts by Judy Hopkins and Nancy Martin that I think will help make a dent in my scraps.  Here's the first block.

Half-square Nines

I still have to put the borders on Zagnuts.

Zagnuts

I also finished Trellis Garden, part of my One Monthly Goals.

Trellis Garden

I'm joining others reporting in with Angela at So Scrappy.

What Goes Around ...

... Comes Around

In other words, if you hold on to a UFO long enough, it will become fashionable again.

Such is the case with a pair of pastel floral monkey wrench quilts I began almost 10 years ago.

A Ribbon Runs Through It #1

I really don't know what possessed me to collect pastel floral prints.  Maybe at the time I thought it was what a "real" quilt should look like.

But if you've followed my blog for any time you would know that I am NOT a floral pastel kinda gal.  I have covered a pretty eclectic spectrum in my quilt projects; I don't think I've ever been stuck in a particular style of fabric at any point. 



If I've been guilty of anything, it's been periods of affinity for a particular color.  I've been through my orange phase, my yellow phase, and my yellow-orange phase.

Then there was my purple phase, which lasted longer than most ...

And the gray phase which apparently I'm still in.


But back to the pastel florals ... have you visited a shop lately or seen some of the new ads?  Florals are back!!!

Rambling Roses by Tanya Whelan for Free Spirit

I should be able to find something to go on the back now.

Doing a happy dance for at least one finish this week and linking up with others at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Design Wall Monday

Remember this one?

I started Trellis Garden last year when smokey purple was the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month. I wrote about it HERE.

Trellis Garden

I was eaking this one out of smallish pieces of yardage and had to get creative with the little brown squares.  Plus I needed to calculate if I had enough of the darker purple and darker gold to extend those blocks into the border. Plus I had nothing lined up for the border fabric.  So the project has languished in the box for several months.

Now that purple is the RSC color this month, I figure it is time to finish this top.  It doesn't show well in this photo, but I am using a third brown -- one I call "brack" because it's so brown it's almost black -- to fill the space.  If I have enough I'll add a another row of the brack all around.

Hop over to Patchwork Times to see what other quilters are working on this week.